DisownedSky's Journal: Midnight Satellite

Tonight I was out walking just a few minutes before midnight, and saw approaching out of the Northeast what looked like an unusually bright satellite. Its motion and appearance were just that, but it was midnight, and the light passed nearly overhead and to the southwest until it became invisible behind clouds near the Southwest horizon. Planes nearly always exhibit strobes, and without exception look a lot different as they change their aspect angle with respect to the observer, and this light didn't.

I know a thing or two about the motion of satellites and how the Earth casts a shadow, and haven't puzzled this one out yet. It wasn't exactly local midnight, and it didn't pass exactly overhead, but how much leeway would it have? <update> The sun was just about at +7 degrees declination. From that, I calculate that altitude would have to have been about 2500 km to be visible at local midnight from my location (about 39 deg N). A large rocket body in transfer orbit might well be at such an altitude, but I don't think it could be that bright at that slant range (roughly 3700 km or more at first), or that consistently orangish/yellow.</update>

<update>Since it moved from northeast to southwest, if what I saw was a satellite, it would have to be in a retrograde orbit. There have been quite a few of these, but nearly all are low orbiters, well below 1000 km altitude. Of the 100 or so brightest satellites, the best candidate appears to be ISIS 1, which flies high enough, but isn't really retrograde, with an inclination of 88 degrees. IMAGE and its rocket body are another possibility - they're in an elliptical polar orbit - but there are still problems.</update>